Radish
The Ghost Machine by Kristen Brand
A tale of gothic castles, snowy mountains, and deadly iron automatons…
Ella Rosenfeld can’t see ghosts. Her visions are obviously hallucinations, which is why she doesn’t argue when her family sends her to the remote Auttenberg Asylum for treatment.
But the longer she undergoes the doctor’s torturous “cure,” the more gruesome her visions become, until Ella discovers she really is seeing ghosts—and Auttenberg’s doctor knows it. He doesn’t plan to cure her; he wants to study her ability by dissecting her.
But Ella refuses to die without a fight. She assaults her captors, scales the asylum fence, and finds sanctuary in the castle of Baron Viktor Szarka. Young and arrogant, the baron offers her protection, but he’s rumored to have locked a woman in the asylum to hide his dark past. Unable to trust him, Ella must uncover the conspiracy surrounding the asylum, her visions, and the baron’s secret... or join the rest of Auttenberg’s ghosts.
CONTENT WARNING: This story edges toward ghostly horror at times, includes some dark themes such as suicide and torture, and depicts ableist attitudes within the asylum.